On my fifteenth Leap Day

Of fathers on the record

Two men I celebrate in my acknowledgement of the significance of today, Joel Adebambo Idowu, my maternal grandfather who passed on in May 1961 and Josiah Olubadejo Akintayo, my father, who at a sprightly 84 years old, potters around with energy and wisdom in our hometown, Ìjẹ̀shà Ìjèbú, in Ogun State.

They were both archivists journalling the histories and genealogies of our little town which bears the historical name of Òdo Àyányẹlú and is significant in the Ijebuland monarchy as well as the animist Agẹmọ cult that represents the 16 masquerades or priests in the August festivals at the palace of the Awùjalẹ̀ of Ìjèbú Òde.

Blog - The Agemo Traditions of Ijebuland - A Primer (November 2013)

In the journals of the annals

However, within the drafts of the documentation my father did over decades of research and study, I found some interesting stuff about age grades, a 3-year grouping with fantastic names that allowed those born in our town to be represented amongst their peers. In which you only needed to know the age grade name and who belonged where to ascertain within the margin of 3 years, the age of anyone so referenced.

The age grade information starting from around the end of the 19^th Century went back two to three generations before mine, my own paternal great-grandmother on his mother’s side greatly outlived all her peers by the time she passed on. The kind of rapport she and I had was utterly friendly and extensive conversation. People could not understand how or why we got on so well.

Leaping into new age grades

In this leap year, I celebrate my 15^th Leap Day and it portends that those born from the 1^st of March 1964 to the 29^th of February 1968 belong in this artificially interesting leap day and year group. One of my former managers to whom I would attribute such lasting influence in my career was born the day before this date range and that would either make him 16 leap years old or an inductee into the Diamond Jubilee cohort. I wish him well.

Obviously, a 4-year time frame can be quite a lengthy time to consider people's age mates or peers. Still, it presents another dimension to our view of time, the passage of it, and how we reckon it relates to the people we encounter from the past in the stories we are told or the journals they have written, in the present as we recollect the memories of our youth, where we are now and our hopes for the future, and conclusively, the kinds of legacies we want to lay out for the future.

Meanwhile, how many leap days have you seen?

Guinness Book Of Death?

Series or trends

One could be forgiven for thinking something sinister was going on, either a case of people getting fed up of life or people wishing to announce the same records in rapid succession.

If I were to do a longevity trail just as one would an audit trail, on August the 28^th it was 116 and not till December the 12^th another 116, then the 19^th of January 115, the 24^th of January 115, the 28^th of January 114.

If this were not a series one wonders what is, as the world’s oldest people are falling dead like flies once a visit has been paid by those who herald the occasion with new and great aplomb, a trend most worrisome – with all the advances in medicine, health care and chemical embellishments for the body and soul, the longevity barometer seems to be shortening as the holders of the revered title seem to holding it for ever decreasing times.

New records for old records

Far be it for me to suggest that this title might change hands in a couple of days narrowing down to hours or minutes till a record is set for the shortest time ever the longest living person ever held the record of being the longest living person.

Only 5 days ago, I did want to write about the daughter of slaves – Emma Faust Tillman – having won through the dregs of human rottenness to become the great survivor and that is a story in itself; but now only held it just for 4 days, we have that on record and may her soul rest in peace.

Perhaps it is unsafe to be announced as the longest living person because the grim reaper might just be the presenter of the prize of death that for so long these people have been most unlucky not to win.

Let it not be said that they have entered the Guinness Book of Death; the excitement of the occasion might be too unhealthy to continue.

Hopefully, the new record holder has taken out insurance, just in case something happens and has lawyers ready to litigate for trying to speed up the inevitable.